Review comments

I would like to give this high school zero stars. I would not send a student to any school in this district that has a learning difference that would require a 504 or IEP or any interaction with the special education "department." It is our experience that this school district does not meet the needs of unique learners. Our experiences with the district have been very, very negative. Our experience with the high school is that there are no specialized instruction/classes/co-teaching, etc. for our LD student. Be prepared to accept modified grades, an altered diploma, and low expectations instead of a specialized education. The school district has a big problem. Make contact with parents of special education kids on the island - or just avoid it completely.

BHS has a reputation for college prep and generating good test scores, but if you're not a traditional student/athlete, it is a horrible place to be. The school lost a lawsuit this year for not protecting a girl with a learning disability from a bullies, and also was cited for violations recently by OSPI for not providing services to another learning disabled student. It's easy to get left behind. Despite being a very quiet town, they have an officer on duty, creating an odd atmosphere. The teachers are dedicated, but BHS needs reform.

Bainbridge High School is extremely difficult academically, and is horrible socially. Your academic success highly depends on which teachers you get, some of which are extremely rude, and those who are nice, but don't teach anything. I worked as hard as I possibly could my freshman and sophomore year and barely scraped out of each semester with a 3.0. It is extremely hard to balance any sport with school on Bainbridge, and teachers are not forgiving when it comes to that. I was a very social student, with many friends, but I still hated the social environment at the high school. Every grade has cliques and they refuse to mesh. Drugs, alcohol, etc are not uncommon. It is so hard to be unique, and be yourself, because you WILL get made fun of it, unless you're popular. Would not recommend this high school, as it is very hard, and the teachers do not want to help you unless you suck up to them.

The teachers are excellent and really do take there job seriously. The test scores are great and the school is ranked among the top 10 in Washington. Everybody is very nice and welcoming. For those who have rated this school and said that new people will not do well in the community are wrong. I moved to the area last year and have made an abundance of great friends and have met some awesome people. The high school is what you make it. Everyone is very smart and do care about there academics. There is a handful of people who are involved in drugs, but that is only a very, very small percentage. The sports are great and the extracurricular activities are awesome. Go Spartans.

BHS is a pretty good school for your academics, but don't expect too many social skills from the students there. i'm currently a freshman there and the students are mainly all in their cliques. But, the acedemics are really good.

BHS is comparable to the other schools in the Bainbridge school system. Many of the teachers are excellent, most are competent and some are less than that. With a great deal of parental support our child did very well there, graduating in the top ten percent of his class and gaining admission to a "highly selective" eastern college. But I had to teach him how to write a proper grammatical sentence (the BI school system isn't very interested in that), and earlier in his BI educational career, basic math (Sakai is a wretched school, top to bottom). The big problem at BHS is a lot of a student's success depends on which teacher you get. And so far as I can tell the counselors do little college counseling -- I don't think our counselor ever talked to our son about college. So don't be afraid to send your child there, but know what you're getting in to. Good but not great.

Our family moved onto the island just over a year ago. We have children in the 7th, 10th and 12th grades. The counselors at Bainbridge High School and Sakai Intermediate School are exceptional and helped my children make a smooth transition. The teachers are oustanding as well. I laugh when I read some of the reviews - what community doesn't have "cliques" amongst the students and parents? Our family has opted to find friends outside the "cliques" and have found there to be many friendly and inclusive people. It's your attitude that makes the difference!

This is an exceptional public high school with plenty of advanced classes as well as a stellar art department. The guidance department is stretched to painfully thin levels. I found my children (one very shy and one very outgoing) to be exceptionally well prepared for college, with a rich social, athletic and academic experience that could easily be tailored to fit their needs.

The teachers are the only thing this school got right. I attended BHS for my 9th and 10th grade years and I hated it. You get three varieties of kids; snotty, stoner, or bully. All the "nice" kids go to Eagle Harbor or other schools in the area. I was bullied mercilessly to the point where I could not be coaxed out of my room to leave the house, and the administration did nothing to the kids involved, who in fact continued to bully me until I finally moved away! I eventually decided to continue schooling at home until I moved away because the school was so bad. Parents, DO NOT SEND YOUR KIDS HERE.

Bullying and drugs are rampant here if you only look behind the "great test scores." Students have a sense of entitlement, which I think they get from their parents. I moved here from Northern California and can honestly say I was bored in class - my previous school in CA was much more rigorous. My parents decided to enroll me in private school in Seattle and I have never looked back!